Reaper
by LimeCandy
Summary: Maka finds herself waking up dead, but being dead makes her feel more alive than life ever did! Being a Reaper has a lot more blood, monsters and glory than selling boring coffee...
1. Chapter 1

**This story has been floating around in my head for a while now. I hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer- Don't own, don't profit, I just play with the characters.**

Waking up dead was disorienting in many ways. Death was confusing by itself but then add the rush of being separated from your body, seeing said lifeless body through your own eyes and the certainty that you were in fact dead. The certainty threw Maka for a loop, it was a bone deep, instinctual thing. She had been alive, barely, a moment ago and now she wasn't. She looked at what used to be her body, broken and still. She took a step closer, the puddle of blood went undisturbed by her feet. It was so red. She should be in shock, but she couldn't tell, everything felt different. Maka hadn't really thought of her own death when she was alive, it was just something she understood would happen eventually, but she'd assumed it would be when she was 80 or 90. She'd been 22. A few more weeks and she would have been 23, but instead she was dead, bled out from a stab wound delivered by a jumpy mugger.

She reached out a finger, a little surprised it wasn't see-through, and touched her body's cheek. There was no compression or sign she was pressing on the flesh, but it felt like she was touching it. She felt distant from it though, maybe she was in shock.

"You are indeed in shock." A male voice bounced off the brick walls of the ally, startling her enough that she fell next to her body.

"I apologize for startling you." The voice continued, although it didn't sound sorry at all, it sounded amused.

"You are not. You do this to everyone." Another voice chimed in, distinctly female.

"But it never stops being funny!" Yet another, the ally sounded full but all Maka could see was trash, brick and blood.

"Who are you?" She called.

"Death." The male voice answered.

They materialized out of the shadows, like the cheesy ninjas in cartoons. But seeing it in real life wasn't cheesy at all. The shadows weren't big enough to hide one person, let alone three standing side by side. But there they were, two towering blond women and a slim, pale man. He did look like death, not just in appearance, because he had that down pretty well, but there was this feeling, a tickle in the back of her mind that told her this was indeed death. He wore the inky black suit of a funeral director and a skull where his tie should be. The skull and the vertical stripes of his hair were as white as his skin. His mouth looked like it was either tattooed to look like or was sewn shut, thick black lines that ran down to his chin. The feeling that emitted from him was like the suction of touching something frozen and she was thankful he wasn't coming any closer.

"And deaths friends!" The blond with the shortest hair said, bowing with a flourish.

The taller one looked annoyed, or exasperated, but Maka was glad someone had broken the serious vibe. The two women were in suits as well, which made the cowboy boots and hats seem a lot weirder.

"You're dead, obviously you know this, and we've come to reap your soul." Death said calmly.

"Reap my soul… what exactly does that entail?" Maka asked. Her knee jerk reaction was to run off but she had been very wrong about everything tonight.

"You've felt the pull of Lord Death, the black hole thing. If he gets closer to you the pull gets stronger and you get pulled in. Soaked up, like water to a sponge." The tallest told her. She looked bored, and that irked Maka to no end.

"I'd really rather not." She said hotly.

"You believe I'm giving you a choice?" He asked.

"No." She said simply. She stood up, dusted herself off and ran. _But I'm giving myself one_ she thought.

She was a good runner, and she knew this neighborhood. Maka was confident that she could find a hiding spot or at least throw them off her trail. The sun was coming up and she could only hope that would stop their neat little shadow trick. Her lungs burned and her legs started getting tired, she reminded herself of being absorbed into the gloomy man death and a shot of adrenaline burned away the discomfort and she pushed herself to go faster. The pounding of her feet on the concrete drown out all other sounds. She couldn't tell if she was being chased but turning her head and checking seemed like a dumb move. And it would have been, because one of the blonds ran straight at her from her left. She turned quickly, jumping over a trash bin and ducking quickly into a little walkway between homes. The fence in the back of this house was broken in a certain spot, it was an uncomfortable squeeze for her and it would be an almost impossible fit for the women gaining on her tail. After she was through she hightailed it back out of another walkway back onto the main road, curses following her from the women she left behind. She let herself smirk. She'd get home and then figure everything out from there. She was tackled from behind. It was like being hit by a car that wrapped its arms around you in a crushing embrace. Her face met the ground and after a second of lying on the road with a heavy being on top of her she started struggling.

"Let me go!" She screamed.

She tried to get her elbows free so she could slam them into whoevers face it was. But the hold was too tight. Her legs were pinned and her top half was useless. She still screamed and did her best to thrash but she knew she was caught. The person got their knees under them and lifted her up, she snapped her head back and caught them in the chin. It was a solid hit, her head flashed with pain but the grunt and loosening of the grip made it worth it. She yanked herself forward but the grip retightened.

"She's very determined." Death said. He strolled into her sights, bringing the suction feeling with him and making her stomach sour in fear. He wasn't talking to her, his eerie yellow eyes looking over her head. Whoever was holding her was someone new, a man.

"She certainly is." The voice was deep, and the grip tightened even more. Maka guessed he was trying to get her to stop struggling, he was making it very difficult to breath. She redoubled her efforts, spewing out threats in gasping breaths.

"I'll peel off your skin and make you eat it! I'll break your knee caps! Let me go you moron!" She kicked backwards with both feet, making him hunch over to hold her. She got at least one knee cap, she felt him jerk and hiss out a quiet _fuck_. She never took her glare off death. You don't let your enemy out of your sights.

"Quiet." Death said.

"Fuck off" Maka said.

He looked like no one had told him to fuck off in a while. He looked surprised. She went on with her threats to her captor.

"Hey! He said quiet." The man holding her said, shaking her a bit.

"Why should I care? He's going to reap me, he might as well have to listen to me! I'm not going quietly!" Maka yelled. She lifted her legs to kick him again but this time he let her fall. She jumped to her feet in a rage, evading his grasp and weaving in and punching him in the face.

Her captor-man was already bleeding from a cut lip and now his nose started gushing. She always did have a talent for bloodying noses. He was tall, golden tan in the new morning light with a shock of white hair. His read eyes were narrowed at her, what she had just done hit her when the red distracted her from her anger. She had never seen anyone with red eyes. And she had just punched him, with everything she had.

"I'll eat your soul you little bitch." He growled wiping off the blood with his hand, it smeared instead, making him look demonic. He could _be_ a demon for all she knew. His teeth when he spoke certainly weren't regular non-threatening human teeth, they were sharp and jagged, like a shark. He was probably a demon. She just punched a demon in the face.

"Try it." She dared getting into a defensive position. If she was going to go down at least she would go down fighting.

"That's enough children." Death said loudly. Shark mouth snapped her wrist up and blocked a swing to the face. "Thank you."

"Maka Albarn." He addressed, flicking a cool gaze her way. "You have been dead forty-four minutes." He checked a pocket watch, a shiny silver one in the shape of a skull, nodded in satisfaction and closed it.

"Beautiful timing." He smiled to himself. "Besides the point, Ms. Albarn, I am Lord Death and now being dead yourself I rule over you." He straightened his sleeves.

"That means he's the big boss and you have to listen to him!" One of the blonds skipped over, the other one followed at a more sedated pace, throwing Maka a dirty look. _I hope you were stuck really well_ Make though, mentally giving her the finger, and then actually flipping her the finger with her free hand.

"I thought he was absorbing me." Maka said. The blond gave her the finger back.

"Not at all Ms. Albarn, I said I was reaping your soul." He gave her a chilly smile. "Liz was just starting her explanation when you decided to run."

"Do you want me to continue?" The long haired one, presumably Liz, asked.

"If, Ms. Albarn allows it, then by all means." He glanced at her with his unnerving cat eyes.

"Whatever."Maka huffed. She half-heartedly tugged her arm but the white haired man was not letting go. He refused to look at her.

"Where was I? Oh yes, the pull- well Lord Death is like a magnet for souls, most souls are drawn to him at the moment of death. Very few resist and the ones that do are called Reapers. They are like Deaths personal little army." She paused to see if Maka was following.

"An army for what?" Maka blurted.

"I'm getting to that," Liz studied her nails. "Reapers are the ones that deal with the corrupt souls. You see, there are a few normal people that stay on this earth after death, but all the dark souls stay. We deal with those, Kishins we call them, but dirt bags works too"

"So the man who murdered you will become one! And he'll be stuck on the plane and become as ugly as his soul and be hungry forever. Nothing will fill his stomach, no matter how hard he tries." The other girl's eyes glinted in a slightly frightening way.

"That's right Patty. The evil souls turn into monsters. We'll tell you more about them later." She gestured to Death. "Take it away boss."

"Would you like to become a Reaper Ms. Albarn?" Death asked, offering her his hand.

"I get that they deal with these bad souls, but how can I defeat a monster? I can't even run away from _you_ guys." She muttered. "I'm not helpless but you make these Kishin sound like pretty powerful things." _Why else would they use the words army?_

"They are. Which is why there is a need of Reaper, Liz made it seem like more. But there are very few that stay, and fewer still that chose to be Reapers." He put his hand back down at his side. "The thought of fighting monsters seems daunting to most."

"I'm not scared." She bristled. "I just want to know more before I agree to anything."

"You can defeat the Kishin by becoming a Reaper. You don't only earn a title when you agree. Certain abilities come with it."

"Like, sis and I can make guns out of our souls!" Patty chirped, a blue light flared to life in her hand and when it faded to a mere glow there was a pretty blue handgun there. She spun it around her fingers a few times and then it popped out of existence.

"We have different guns, but we can team up and make something bigger, a set of machine guns, a cannon, stuff like that. But every soul is different so different abilities are unearthed." Liz explained.

"I do not gift the abilities, they reside in your soul, and I just unlock them."

Maka figured this was a pretty simple deal. Since she 'woke up' dead and wasn't immediately pulled into Death she was one of the Reaper candidates. If she said yes then she would serve Death and defeat men-turned monster bad guys, if she said no then she'd go wherever everyone else went. She was curious and a bit excited. She could get justice on men like her killer, a burst of hatred had her tightening her fist. Yes, she'd hunt men like that down. She'd get justice for all those poor dead girls that didn't have this opportunity.

"I'll become a Reaper." She said proudly. Death smiled.

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**Please and Thank You**


	2. Chapter 2

**I apologize if it isn't very action-filled right now, I'm trying to explain everything and it a pretty big undertaking. But it will pick up!**

They shook hands, even though it was just a handshake it felt like more, like it was more official than any paper contract and biding on more levels. The white haired man let go of her wrist. She rubbed the tender skin there and tried to resist stopping on his bike boot clad foot.

"Now walk through me." Death told her, pointing at his chest.

"I thought you said-" She started, Liz cut in.

"Lord Death's soul is a portal, the place where the dead go, Death City, can only be reached through him. Unless you're a Reaper, we can make portals out of mirrors."

"So I'll go to Death City?"

"Yes, but on the way there your soul will be unlocked. When you pass through me I can reach into you and do what needs to be done." Death continued. "And then you'll end up in the city where your training will begin."

"Ok." She wasn't sure if it was ok though, nerves were bubbling up in her throat.

"You won't mess with anything will you? Just unlock and that's it?" She hated that her voice shook a little. She swallowed and took a deep breath.

"I give my word." He said solemnly.

She walked forward then, and stepped through him before nerves made her drag it out. The scenery dropped away immediately, leaving her in all consuming blackness. It wasn't cold, it was the perfect temperature, comfortable and she felt an overwhelming sense of home. Then, suddenly, something clicked. Rightness filled her body. A happiness she had never felt before had her smiling and giggling in joy to herself. In reverse scenery came back up, it was also a road but very different. A giant castle-skull loomed above her. The place gave off an ancient air. Around her was a bursting town, as far as she could see. People were milling about, other people were appearing out of thin air, like she had just done, and a person wearing a blue suit would walk up to them and take their hand. The blue suits popped into existence too, they all looked the same, pink hair, gender neutral, but they had soft voices and looked very kind. She wondered where her blue suit was, they were probably the welcoming committee.

"Walk towards the castle." The man with the white hair said, he had appeared beside her.

"What's your name?"

"Why is it any of your business?"

"I usually know a guy's name before I punch him in the face. I feel rude." She said, smirking a bit.

"Soul." He told her. "But don't use this as an opportunity to punch me again."

"The thought never crossed my mind."

The others materialized a bit ahead and immediately began walking toward the castle. She and the man called Soul jogged to catch up. The castle was pristine, the new daylight reflected off it as if the entire place was polished just hours ago. There were gargantuan candles hanging oddly off the castle, they were lit and obviously melting but there were not puddles of wax on the ground. Just perfect black marble leading up to a grand red door. The door swung open before Death reached it and he walked in the building without a pause.

"Come to the study Ms. Albarn." Death led, the others of their group walked away and left her and Death to walk alone through the silent halls.

"Call me Maka." She said suddenly.

"Alright. Well if we are going to set aside formalities, my name is Kidd."

"I thought your name was Death?"

"My full name is Death the Kidd."

"Nice to meet you Kidd."

"You too Maka."

They walked into the study. A plush red carpet almost swallowed her feet whole and the shelves of books that made up the wall made her salivate. The room was magnificent. The ornate desk and wingback chairs were golden, the cushions were the same red as the carpet. Her eyes kept climbing to the wall of books.

"Have you read them all?" Maka questioned as he rang a tiny bell sitting on the desk.

"Most of them, yes. There's a lot of time on my hands and books fill that time quite nicely."

"I would think being death would take up a lot of time."

"I only go out to create new Reapers, or if an emergency comes up. Souls of the deceased go through me, no matter where I am or what I'm doing so I mostly read."

"Well, if you don't mind, could I borrow some? I'm a bit of a bibliophile myself."

"I would be delighted."

One of the pink haired blue suits came in, with a tray of tea and finger sandwiches.

"Here you are Lord Death, mint tea and cucumber sandwiches, for your enjoyment." The voice was soft, but neither male nor female and it gave Maka the heebie-jeebies.

"Thank you Crona."

Crona bowed and left, leaving the tray on the desk. Kidd handed her a steaming teacup and a little plate of sandwiches.

"You can eat while I talk." He offered. Maka nodded with a mouth full.

"You will train and learn about your powers for however long I deem you need. Everyone is different and learns about themselves at a different pace, so I cannot tell you when you will be in the field. "

He walked to the shelves, taking a few books down with ease, he barely had to glance at the spines. He handed her a small pile.

"These are beginner books. Take your time and memorize them. They'll help you in the long run. I find myself revisiting things they taught me all the time. I think you'll find the meditation techniques invaluable." He gave her a sly look. "It will save people a few bloody noses I wager."

She blushed and gulped down her tea, looking longingly at the other plate of sandwiches. Kidd handed them to her without a word and the other tea cup as well, taking the dirty dishes from her.

"How old are you?"

He looked her age, just incredibly pale and well dressed. But he moved with a grace of an older man. And there were more books here then she could possibly read in her lifetime, and she was a speed reader. Then there were his golden-yellow eyes, there was the obvious look of age in them. Like his eyes had seen time pass and it left its mark in his irises.

"Older then you can possibly know. But in another way only a century." He winced. "I forgot how much explaining a new recruit needs. I'm a reincarnation of Death. The men I've been have always been the god of death, but being the god doesn't exempt me from death. So I die, albeit much later than any other being, but I am reborn. I don't retain my complete memory- just the important bits and a few feelings now and then."

"So you'll die, and then a new death god with just be reborn using your soul?"

"Yes."

"Wait… So that means I can die again?" Make remembered the agony of bleeding out, the cement pressing against her cheek and the stink of the garbage and piss. She pushed the memory back and stilled the shaking of her hands.

"Death can never be stopped. When you die, Maka will cease to be and your soul will be laid to rest."

"Will my lifespan be the same here?"

"No. You are no longer human. You're a step down from the Death god in a way. If you aren't killed then you live as long as I will." He got an uncomfortable look on his face, and with a jolt Maka knew what it was about.

"We're bound to you. The reapers you make, we'll live as long as you do but we all die with you."

"You're very quick Maka."

"You can be killed like any of us. That's why you stay inside, so your Reapers don't get wiped out."

"Yes, even though we can live through much more than a mortal can, we can still be killed if the injury is bad enough. I do stay inside to keep my Reapers alive, I've touched your souls. I love you all, you can't touch another's soul without forming attachments. I keep out of the way because I want you all to live as long as you can." He reached for her hand, she let him hold it. "I was going to tell you these things after you'd had time to settle. It's a lot to take in. I don't see how you're taking this so well. Patty hit me and Liz wouldn't talk to me for a month."

"I'm going to have a nervous breakdown soon." She said calmly, it was the truth. There was information overload and she had pushed the emotions connected to her death back enough, they were coming up no matter how much she tried to ignore them.

"I'll take you to your room." Kidd said quickly, scooping up the books and pulling her gently to her feet. Tears were leaking out of her eyes.

"This isn't because of the bound thing," She swiped the tears on her face. "It because I'm _dead_, I was _murdered_." Her blood, it had been_ hers_, and it cooled so quickly. It was tacky and made a bigger puddle then it had any right to. She was small, thin and lithe and it was just hard to believe that that much blood had been inside her, and then it had been all over the concrete, soaking into the litter of the ally. She watched the puddle spread as she died. Why did no one help? She screamed so loudly for help.

"It's okay darling." A sweet voice cut through the fog, but she was pulled back down into despair. She had been walking home, she took the late shift from Jeanie, she had to get a homework assignment done anyway, and the café's internet was so much faster than it was at home. So she stayed later, much later because she fell asleep. It was five by the time she left, after drinking an espresso. The memory of coffee on her tongue, blood and garbage in her nose and the achy coldness in her bones was so strong she threw up. A cool towel was put on the back of her neck as she retched into a well placed bucket. She threw up till there was nothing left, everything hurt. She was pushed back, so she was lying on her side and another towel was moping her face.

"I'm Tsubaki." The sweet voiced women told her. _This is the first person that just offered their name_. "I'll be taking care of you. I remember what it was like so don't hesitate to ask me for anything."

Maka glanced at the kind women. She was the picture of Japanese beauty, the kind they had in the history books putting on their geisha makeup. Her shiny black hair was up in an elegant bun, her skin was pale and her eyes were lined artfully.

"How'd you die?" The question was out of her mouth before she realized her lips had moved. Her eyes widened. "I'm so sorry! That was incredibly rude and a stupid question to ask." She finished miserably. Her throat hurt and her eyes itched.

To her shock Tsubaki laughed.

"It gets easier to talk about the longer its been. For me its been a great long while. A lady never tells her age… Anyway I'd be fine with telling you my death story, if you're sure it's not going to trigger you." She gave Maka a deep stare.

"No. I think it will help me cope." At least she hoped so.

"Alright! Get comfortable little bird," She fixed her hair and gave a sweet smile. "I was a geisha, not the best but not the worst in my line of work. But my living was comfortable. I was on my way home from a little party, my purse a little fuller and my spirits high. I was crossing a bride. I remember the wood looked like it needed a little repair, it was a passing thought, nothing that would have caused me pause. As I was walking over a splinter snagged my dress and caused a big long tear. I was devastated, it was my friend's new kimono, a customer of hers had gifted it to her but she lent it to me for that night. I was panicking on a bridge in the middle of the night and thinking my friend was going to be so mad, and how I was the clumsiest thing on earth. And then while I'm wallowing a man with a cart rolls by, luckily he has thread, he was just heading back home from the capitol. The thread was two shades too dark but I still bought it. I'm pretty handy with a needle and I felt confident I could fix it. I hugged the man, because I was excited and sure the gods had sent him my way- but then the ox, startle by my action I guess, stomped his feet and it all went down from there. The bride collapsed. No gradual breaking, we just plummeted straight into the water. The way we feel, the ox clipped me with a hoof to the head. Fast, sharp and hard, that's how I died."She looked unaffected by the story of her death, Maka hoped it would be like that for her soon.

"Thank you for telling me." She said, Tsubaki patted her on the head.

"You're welcome. I'm going to bed, you should get some sleep as well. You're training with us tomorrow!"

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

The dreams the followed her into sleep were not peaceful, they were gruesome and terrifying. She woke up in a cold sweat quite a few times, a scream trying to claw its way out of her throat. The mugger killed her differently every time- strangling her, drowning her, beating her savagely. She could feel everything in her dreams. Eventually she just decided to stay awake till someone got her.

"I can't push this to the back of my mind." She told herself. "I'm strong enough to not let this affect my life so badly." She knew this wasn't something she could magically get over, this was deep trauma. She had died for fuck sake- stewed in her own blood till she died. She would get better, Tsubaki was proof she could do it. It would just take time.

* * *

"The Dead-man got a new pet."

"Oh? That lovely, the more the merrier I always say."

"Scrawny little thing."

"Dear sister, you should have learned that one doesn't judge on appearances."

"When are we starting the plan. I'm impatient."

"As soon as we can gauge the new darlings power. You must know thy enemy."

"_Inside_ and out."

*crunch*

"Where's your plate! You're getting blood and skull all over the carpet!"

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